Fear In Numbers
by FlyPandaBear
Summary: At Osore Academy, overcoming your fear is the top priority. The only ones allowed to help you conquer this fear is your pokemon and fellow students. But can Kiyoko Sona, who has spent most of her life in seclusion, be able to get over hers, something no one else can understand? OC's closed.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, my lovelies! It's me again, Tobu, and if you read the last chapter for Starting From Scratch, then you're aware that I'm redoing F.I.N, or Fear In Numbers. Well, here's the revision! Like I said, I'm using a whole new cast of characters, and I'll ask for new OC's. Some other things will change, but they're not that major. The form will be on my profile, so please, sit back and enjoy!**

* * *

Light shone through the two windows, illuminating the large coffee-walled office that was empty, aside from a working desk and a chair in front of it. On one of the walls were a set of six portraits featuring both men and women, their faces stern and stoic. A young woman sat behind the desk in a large, black leather chair, her expression unamused as she shuffled through papers in a folder. She had creamy skin and her hair was of a chestnut brown, most likely reaching her waist, not a single strand out of place. Her bang was combed neatly to the side and tucked behind her ear, which had silver stud earrings, and her bang was held in place with a yellow cross-shaped clip. She wore a grey blazer and matching skirt, a white button up shirt, and black shoes with a small heel. Her hazel eyes, full of boredom, moved from left to right as she read the papers.

"So…" She started, sighing as she closed the folder. "Kiyoko Sona, 16 years old, originally from Hokkaido. Due to personal issues, you were taken out of elementary school at the age of nine and homeschooled."

"Y-Yes…" A small voice squeaked. The individual the woman was speaking to, Kiyoko, was a tall, slender girl, standing at about 5'11, with pale skin, and jet black hair. Her hair was tied into two messy pigtails, her bangs framed her face and came over her forehead, though they covered her eyes completely, stopping at the tip of her nose. She wore an oversized forest green turtleneck that covered her hands slightly, a black pleated skirt, black tights and black mary-janes.

"So, you're telling me that this is your first time in 7 or 8 years that you've been to an actual school?"

Kiyoko slowly nodded, hiding her mouth behind the neck of her shirt. "Mhmm…"

"You secluded yourself in your own home, rarely coming out of your room. Right?"

"C-Correct…"

"So, tell me, exactly why are you here?"

"U-Uh…" Kiyoko shifted awkwardly in her seat. "W-Well… my father was the one who homeschooled me… b-but he hasn't been feeling well recently, a-and my mother, um, s-she thought that sending me here would be a good experience for me… you know, to get me out of the house…? Either that, o-or she was tired of having her only daughter bring shame to the family name by secluding herself from the world…" She nervously chuckled.

"You have a messed up sense of humor. You know that?"

Kiyoko slumped her shoulders. "Thanks…"

"Well," The woman said as she stood up, and reached over the desk, extending her arm. "Welcome to Osore Academy, Kiyoko. My name is Ayane Takashiba. It'll be a pleasure to have you as a student here."

Kiyoko blinked, staring at Ayane's hand. She gulped and shakily accepted the handshake, the black haired girl feeling like her bones were breaking in Ayane's firm hold. When they released, Kiyoko stood up, holding her bag close to her.

"U-Um… uh…" She stuttered, a blush covering her pale face.

"You can ask one of the students about the school," Ayane said as she ushered Kiyoko towards the door.

"Um, wait, but-!"

She opened the door and smiled. "Trust me, it'll be fine! Good luck!"

Kiyoko squeaked as she was almost literally shoved out of the office, the door slamming behind her.

"But… I'm shy…"

* * *

"Um, excuse me? Pardon me? Um, I'm new…"

Kiyoko deeply sighed in defeat as several students walked past her, not paying any sort of attention to her. She leaned against the wall in the hallway, next to the lockers, and fiddled with her thumbs.

"_Why did mother send me here? Doesn't she know that I don't like talking to people? I preferred getting homeschooled by father, or just using books… there's no way I'll be able to survive! Not in this place! Oh…"_

She gasped when her bag suddenly opened up, a red beam shooting into the air and arching over next to her. Materializing in front of her was a large pokemon with two heads, their eyes obscured from their fur. Two small wings were on its back- Zweilous.

"Z-Zweilous?! What're you doing? I fed you almost an hour ago! You can't be hungry already!"

The two-headed pokemon lowly growled and nuzzled Kiyoko.

"Wha… w-why're you so affectionate all of a sudden?"

Zweilous growled again, causing Kiyoko to force a smile.

"You're hungry, aren't you? Well, I'd love to get something to eat, but I don't know where anything is…"

Zweilous' heads sniffed the ground, then the air, smiling and happily barking, like a Growlithe.

"Found something?" She asked. The dual type pokemon nodded and scrambled down the hall, occasionally tripping over itself. Kiyoko sighed and followed the somewhat slow pokemon, shaking her head.

"_I love dragon pokemon. They're so majestic and beautiful! Unfortunately, Zweilous is neither of those things. He's very clumsy and greedy, and is only affectionate if he's hungry… I doubt he even wants me as a trainer…"_

She soon found herself inside a very large room, windows spaced evenly against the walls. Several tables were lined neatly in the cafeteria. Kiyoko took small steps inside, looking around, her Zweilous doing the same. Hearing excited chatter, she smiled and walked over to where a group of students were gathered around a vending machine. She walked towards them and craned her neck, realizing that it was for food.

"U-Um… excuse… me…?" She quietly said, though the students couldn't hear her. Zweilous growled and nudged her closer to them. Kiyoko gulped and gently tapped one of the student's shoulder. He turned around and raised an eyebrow, holding a food ticket.

"Yeah?"

"U-Um... what is that?" She asked, pointing to the ticket in his hand. The other students turned to her.

"A food ticket," He replied.

"Food ticket? Um… where do you get one of those?"

"From this machine right here. Duh!"

Kiyoko lightly blushed. "S-Sorry… I-I'm new here… a-and… I'm a bit behind the times…"

The students looked at each other and shrugged. "Whatever. Bye!"

She watched as they walked away and sighed, kneeling over and looking at the vending machine.

"How does this work?" She asked herself. Zweilous looked up and nudged Kiyoko, his heads pointing to the money slot.

"You put money in there, huh?" She thought aloud, and sighed. "Let's see if I have something…"

She zipped open her bag and dug through it, fishing out some paper money and coins.

"Do you think this machine will sell pokemon food? Hm, I wonder how… I don't see a slot to dispense this kind of food…"

She inserted the money and pushed the button for tempura udon. After waiting a few moments, she yelped and jumped back when the machine blinked and dispensed a meal ticket. Kiyoko got on all fours and slowly crawled over to it, taking the ticket and examining it.

"What just happened…?" She questioned in awe, looking back at the machine. She stood up and once again inserted money, this time pushing the button for a bowl of pokemon food. She flinched when the ticket was dispensed, and she quickly grabbed it. She examined both articles of paper and looked at Zweilous, who shrugged. Kiyoko looked around and slightly smiled when she saw a lunch lady, and walked over to her.

"Excuse me!" She quietly said. The lunch lady looked up.

"Hm?"

She held out the tickets. "I-I would like my meal, please…!"

The lunch woman looked at the odd girl and took the tickers, scoffing a bit before handing her a bowl of udon with chopsticks and a bowl of pokemon food. Kiyoko bowed and took the dishes.

"T-Thank you!"

She went over to the nearest table, setting the pokemon food on the floor and snapped the chopsticks apart. She quietly slurped the noodles, and looked down at Zweilous, giggling to herself as his heads fought with each other for the food, which was almost finished.

"Maybe I should explore a bit after this…" She said to herself. "What do you think, Zweilous?"

He ignored her, and instead continued to bicker. Kiyoko deeply sighed.

"After this, you're going back to your pokeball, okay?"

Zweilous growled in response.

* * *

"So this is my room?"

The room was fairly large, painted white, with a bed placed next to the window, and a work desk next to the doorway. On one side, a door led to the closet, and on the other side, the bathroom. Kiyoko sighed and dropped her bag onto the bed and plopped onto it.

"I'm so sleepy…" She whimpered, and curled into a ball. "Since I'm in a dorm, maybe I can just seclude myself from everything like how I used to before I came to this wretched place…" She tightly clutched the pillow and held it close to her. She took the covers and wrapped them around her, deeply sighing.

"I hope you're proud, mother. My first day starts tomorrow… I hope I'll be okay…"

* * *

**Well, here it is everybody! The terribly short prologue of only 1,500-something words. I've had Kiyoko in my head ever since I announced I was going to redo this story, and I'm really glad that I can now use her. I know it's a bit risky, to have two stories going on at once, but it's not like it's impossible. Heck, I must have, at least 4 stories in progress on DeviantArt. So there. Hopefully, the next chapter will be longer. Like I said, the form will be on my profile. Please, please! Send it in by PM only, no review! And make sure you follow the rules carefully or I won't accept them!**

**So, until next time, everyone.**

**-Tobu**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Welcome to the next installment of F.I.N! I was surprised that so many people were interested in this. I only need one more OC to close the acceptance form, which is fantastic. So thank you all! And thank you again for reviewing! Enjoy!**

* * *

As the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, everyone stood up and walked out of their classrooms. That is, everyone except for Kiyoko. She trembled in her seat, holding her bag close to her, being the only one left in the classroom, with the teacher.

"Aren't you going?" He asked, not looking up from a book he was reading. Kiyoko gasped and blushed.

"Um… h-how did I do? On my test?" She asked.

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"O-Oh. Um, okay," She stood up and walked to the doorway, and turned around. "H-Have a nice day!"

The teacher waved her off. Kiyoko blushed as she walked down the hall, noticing the other student's glares and whispers were aimed towards her.

"_They're all looking at me… i-is it because of my hair? Or my fashion sense? Maybe it's because I'm new. The new girl is always the talk of the school, right?" _She thought. She shook her head and smiled to herself. "_No, it's okay! I'll just ignore them, go to my room, and sleep! Yes, that's my plan!_"

* * *

"Geez! Since when was homework this difficult?! Oh, I'm screwed! I don't know any of this! I was too busy dozing off!"

Kiyoko whimpered and set the papers that was her homework to the side of the bed. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

"_It was so much easier when father was teaching me_," She thought. "_But then again, I didn't get homework back then. It's been such a long time since I've held a writing utensil, my handwriting is disgusting! I really am a failure…_"

She deeply sighed and grabbed a pillow, clutching it close to her and lying down on her bed.

"_I don't wanna be here anymore! I wanna go home!_" She pulled on her pigtails out of frustration. "_Stupid, stupid, stupid!"_

She gasped when she heard a knock on the door. Kiyoko whimpered and squeezed her pillow. "_Oh, no! People! What do they want?!"_

"Hello?" A muffled voice called out from behind the door. "Open up, new kid! We know you're in there!"

"_We?! There's more than one?!"_

Kiyoko sat up and looked around, trying to find a way to escape. She jumped off her bed and scrambled to the window, about to open it, but flinched when the knocking became more intense.

"Open up, or we're breaking it down!"

"_Oh geez! They sound mad! Okay Kiyoko, calm down!_"

She ran back to the bed and grabbed her bag, taking out a piece of loose leaf and getting a pen. She put the paper on the desk and shakily began writing.

"Dear whoever is reading this," She quietly said. "By the time you've read this letter, I'd be dead. I just couldn't handle life anymore and-"

Kiyoko yelped when the door was slammed open, two people walking into her room. She whimpered as they looked at her, and she fell back, her body trembling. One of them, a male, stood over her, being a solid 6'0, with a lean muscle build. He had short black hair, brown eyes, and a fair skin tone, and a stubble was developing on his chin. He wore a black zip up hoodie, a grey t-shirt, dark blue jeans and brown work boots. The other, however, was much shorter and much less intimidating, a female, standing at only 5'1, with a slender build. She, too, had pale skin, dark blue eyes, and straight, neck length, choppily cut dirty blonde hair. Her clothing was also simple, consisting of only a black t-shirt, baggy black and white pants, and black shoes. She widely smiled, revealing dimples.

"Hi~!" She happily said. "You're the new student, right?"

Kiyoko stared at the two, her eyes wide, although they were hidden behind her bangs.

"Y-Yes," She squeaked.

"Well," The girl started. "My name is Bryan Wells, and this is Trevor Barnett," She motioned to the taller male. He knelt down next to Kiyoko, tilting his head to the side.

"Do you have eyes?" He asked. Kiyoko squeaked and brushed her fingers over her bangs.

"O-Of course I do!" She shyly replied. "It's just…"

Trevor laughed. "The way you hide them like that, it makes it seem like someone clawed them out and pickled them!"

He made a clawing motion towards her, causing her to back up against her bed.

"U-Um," She stuttered. Bryan sighed and shook her head.

"Don't worry about him," She said. "Trevor's a little… messed up in the head."

"I am not!"

Kiyoko, still in shock, shifted her gaze back and forth between them. "W-Why're you here?"

"Principal Takashiba told us to show you around the school, since you're new and you really don't seem like an out-going person. We were the only two actually willing to do this, so there you have it!" Bryan beamed.

"I just realized, y-you have a boy's name…" Kiyoko whispered.

"I know, I know! Look, blame my parents, okay? Anyway, let's go!"

"Go?"

Trevor, who was already making his way out of the room, turned to the two females.

"We're giving you a tour of the school!" He said. Kiyoko gasped as she was suddenly pulled out of the room by Bryan, whimpering as she was dragged down the hall.

"Um, um, I-I have a really rare disease that prevents me from, uh-"The pigtailed girl started, but was quickly cut off.

"Oh, shutup!" Bryan giggled. "You don't have a disease! Don't worry, if we run into anyone you're uncomfortable around, Trevor will scare them off!"

A blush quickly covered Kiyoko's face as she stumbled after the shorter girl.

"Have you seen the cafeteria yet?" Bryan asked.

"O-Of course!"

"The auditorium?"

"Mhmm."

"Hm… the training field?"

"N-No…"

Bryan and Trevor stopped in their tracks and looked at each other, a sly smile forming on their faces.

"Wanna have a battle?" Trevor asked, quite literally jumping in front of her and bouncing up and down on his heels. Kiyoko took a step back, holding her hands behind her back.

"Um, well, the thing is, I, um-"She stuttered, looking down to hide her flustered face.

"You what? Come on! It can't be that bad!"

"I, uh," Kiyoko took a deep breath. "I-I haven't actually battled with a pokemon…"

"What?!" Trevor and Bryan exclaimed in unison, their eyes wide and their jaws hanging open.

"W-Well, um, you see, my father never let me fight with pokemon, and my mother never really did anything about it. T-This would be the first time I've had a battle."

Bryan shook her head and cracked a smile. "Well, if you want, Trevor and I can battle so you can get an idea of what it's like."

"No!" Trevor piped in. "You look like a smart girl. I think you can handle yourself well in a battle against me. Since it'll be your first time, I'll go easy on ya, okay?"

"Y-Yes," Kiyoko gave a small smile. "T-Thank you."

* * *

The three teenagers stood in the back of the school, a large, wide grassy field surrounded and circled by a forest. A gentle breeze blew, causing Kiyoko to shiver as she hugged herself.

"You're cold?" Bryan asked, a slight chuckle in her voice.

"I-I'm so used to be wrapped up in my blanket that I get cold easily!" Kiyoko whimpered. "Um, may we start this battle, Trevor? O-Only if you want to!"

The tall male widely smiled and took out a pokeball from his pocket, pressing the button, the device enlarging in his hands. "Yeah! Charizard, let's go!"

He threw the pokeball into the air. It snapped open, a red beam of light forming in front of him, materializing into the large, winged orange pokemon. Charizard roared, spreading its wings and waving its flamed tail. Kiyoko gulped and reached into her sleeve, also pulling out a pokeball, and doing the same action Trevor did. In front of her formed a large, golden plated pokemon, with intimidating axe-like tusks growing from the sides of its mouth- Haxorus. Trevor smirked and pointed his finger at Charizard.

"Alright, start off with Flamethrower!" He shouted. Charizard cocked its head back and opened its mouth, a trail of fire escaping its mouth, shooting towards Haxorus in a wild fashion.

"O-Oh, um, uh-!" Kiyoko panicked. Haxorus simply crossed its arms in front of it, taking the attack head on, bringing its arm down to dissipate the fire.

"Okay!" She said. "Haxorus, p-please use, um, Dual Chop!"

The dragon type pokemon crossed its arms in front of it to form an x-shape, its arms glowing blue. It charged towards Charizard, jumping into the air, and bringing its right arm over it.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!"

The moment Haxorus was going to attack it, Charizard unleashed its attack, Haxorus letting off a mighty roar in pain as it was engulfed in the intense flames. It fell on its back with a thud, a cloud of dust forming underneath it, where it landed.

"Dragon Dance!" Trevor said, slightly laughing. Charizard closed its eyes in concentration, the flame on its tail glowing more intensely. It opened its eyes and roared, releasing a stream of fire into the air. By this time, Haxorus stood up, shaking its head and lowly growling. Charizard turned to it and smirked. Trevor snapped his fingers, widely smirking.

"Dragon Pulse!"

Charizard opened its mouth as a faint blue light glowed in its stomach. The glow travelled up to its throat, where the back of its mouth began to shine brightly, a blue orb forming, gradually becoming larger and larger. When it was about the size of a basketball, Charizard shot it off at Haxorus, the attack progressing towards it at breakneck speed.

"Dodge it!" Kiyoko quickly said. Haxorus stepped out of the way, the attack scraping the tip of its tail.

"Wow," Bryan said to herself, standing a safe distance away from the battle. "Trevor's a powerful battler. But he's a bit… random…"

"Flamethrower!"

When Charizard unleashed the attack, Haxorus moved out of the way, keeping its red eyes on the fire- and flying-type, and gasped when Charizard seemingly disappeared into thin air. Haxorus looked around, searching for its opponent. Kiyoko did the same. Her gaze turned to Trevor, and she widened her hidden eyes when he snapped his fingers. Haxorus roared as it felt a blast hit its back, not even its armored plates protecting it from the intolerable pain it was experiencing. It whirled around, baring its fangs when it saw Charizard in mid-air, a sly smirk spread across the pokemon's face.

"Haxorus!" Kiyoko called. "Use, um-!"

She was unable to finish her sentence when Haxorus was suddenly attacked in a barrage of Dragon Pulses launched by Charizard. It roared, unable to dodge the effective attacks. A cloud of dust formed around it, and eventually its roaring ended. Both Bryan and Kiyoko's breath hitched, and Trevor raised an eyebrow.

"Is it over?" He asked. "That was too easy!"

"Haxorus…?" Kiyoko worriedly said. The cloud of dust soon disappeared, and Kiyoko gasped when she saw the dragon-type still standing.

"Haxorus!" She shouted. "U-Use…"

Trevor sighed and shook his head. "You don't know when to give up, do ya? I'm just gonna end this. Charizard, Dragon Pulse."

Still in mid-air, Charizard nodded and prepared the attack. Kiyoko pulled her hair, digging her fingers into her scalp and biting her lip, her body trembling.

"N-No more… stop…"

Haxorus quietly growled, weakly waving its tail. Charizard smirked as it shot off the Dragon Pulse. Bryan looked away, while Trevor had his eyes wide in excitement.

"Zweilous, use protect!" Kiyoko shouted as she threw the pokeball in the air, the dark- and dragon-type materializing in front of Haxorus and forming a green, transparent shield before the dragon pulse could hit. The collision caused a black cloud of smoke, which quickly faded. The shield soon vanished, and when it did, Haxorus fell to the ground face first, weakly groaning. Kiyoko ran over to the large pokemon, falling to her knees next to it. She reached out to it, but didn't put her hand on it, instead retracting her arm and looking away. Charizard landed next to Trevor, and he chuckled as he returned it, walking up to Kiyoko with Bryan following him.

"Well," He started, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You're a really poor battler. You don't even know your own pokemon's moves?"

"I-I just got it recently, okay?" Kiyoko retorted as she stood up and returned her pokemon. "I told you, I never battled with pokemon before! Maybe if my mother had cared enough to teach me about them, things would've turned out differently!"

Trevor scowled. "Don't you dare bad talk your mother like that," He said, and stood in front of the black haired girl. "She's given birth to you, raised you, and taken care of you with all her heart. It's not her fault she didn't teach you anything!"

"Trevor…" Bryan said, taking a step towards the two.

"Just go away! I never needed your help! I never needed any of this!" Kiyoko shouted, tears threatening to spill over her eyes.

"Um… hey…" Bryan piped in. Trevor scoffed and looked away.

"Let's just leave her alone, alright? I'm done."

He began walking away, and the shorter girl gulped, giving an apologetic look to Kiyoko before she ran after Trevor. The aforementioned girl sniffed, tightly clenching her fists.

"It happened again…" She whispered to herself, a tear falling down her cheek.

* * *

Kiyoko stared blankly at the wall, her pillow soaked from her unheard sobs of despair. Her whole room was dark, the blinds pulled down and her door closed and locked. She buried herself further underneath her comforter.

"_Is it really my fault that I don't know how to battle? It must be. Everything is always my fault. I always find a way to ruin everything. I don't want to go to class tomorrow…" _She thought, and deeply sighed. "_I wish father were here. Though, he'd probably tell me to suck it up and get over it."_

She closed her eyes, though they shot open when she heard knocking at the door. "_Oh good. More people. Just what I need."_

Kiyoko managed to push herself off of the bed and trudged to the door, opening it, relief flooding into her when she saw who it was.

"Hey," Bryan said, giving a shy wave. "Can I come in?"

Kiyoko nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Bryan to walk inside. She looked around, nervously chuckling at the dark atmosphere of the room.

"Is it always like this?" She asked, turning to Kiyoko, who nodded. "Oh… so you like the dark?"

"Yes."

"You know, I love dark-types. I specialize in them, you know!"

"That's nice."

Bryan frowned and sighed, then sat on the bed, patting the space next to her. "Let's talk," She said. Kiyoko slowly approached the shorter girl, and sat next to her, shyly hugging her arm.

"I'm sorry about Trevor's behavior," Bryan gave a crooked smile. "He has anger issues. His childhood was pretty rough, and his mother was his reason to push him through. So he hates when someone talks about their mother in a bad way. You understand, right?"

Kiyoko slowly nodded and grabbed her pillow, holding it close to her.

"Um, so, can I ask what your relationship with your mother was like?" Bryan asked.

"Please don't make me talk about it."

"Right, right, that's personal. I totally understand. Sorry."

"It's fine."

"Um… what was your life like before you came here? Actually, no. What's your name?"

"Kiyoko. Kiyoko Sona."

"That's a pretty name," Bryan smiled. "Well, I already introduced myself. I hope we can become friends in the future!"

Kiyoko nodded. "Mhmm."

"S-So, how are your classes?"

"They're okay."

"Are you struggling in anything? I'd happily tutor you!"

"No thanks."

"Hm… alright. Well, it's getting late. I wanted to check on you to make sure you're doing okay."

Bryan stood up and walked over to the door, opening it and looking back at Kiyoko.

"Will you be okay?"

The black haired girl nodded and very slightly smiled.

"Alright! Well, see you tomorrow!"

She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Kiyoko sighed and lied down on her bed, closing her eyes.

"_I'm sorry, Bryan. I lied. I'm not sure if you'll see me tomorrow…"_

* * *

**Character Introductions:**

**Trevor Barnett- Charizard and other pokemon TBA- CaptainPrice**

**Bryan Wells- Pokemon TBA- Alice the B-Rabbit**

* * *

**Whew, finally done! In my opinion, this was a pretty decent chapter, I could've done better, but hey, you're just gonna have to settle with it! Trevor and Bryan were both characters who I enjoyed writing about, so props to Captain and Alice for creating some awesome OC's! Anyway, I hope the battle was good, but mind you I was distracted by K-Pop and Fairly Odd Parents, so I was really out of it. I doubt that next chapter will come any time soon, so until then, just sit back and relax! Thanks for reading, and reviews are always welcome.**

**-Tobu**


End file.
